CRAE report indicates Government failing in its responsibilities to children

Date: 22nd January 2013
Category: UK 1st periodic review

An assessment of how well the Government is protecting children's rights in England, published by the Children's Rights Alliance for England (CRAE), reveals a catalogue of violations.

The report draws on hundreds of sources to examine how children are faring in all aspects of their lives and finds breaches in many key areas. It also reports that the Government is not fulfilling its promise to check how its policies affect children's rights.

In 2008 the UN advised the UK to improve on children's rights in 118 areas. In 12 months from now, the Government is due to update the UN on progress made. CRAE has found that in relation to 31% of recommendations things are getting worse for children.

Paola Uccellari, Director of CRAE, says:

"The UN criticised the UK's record on children's rights four years ago - but we keep moving backwards on many of these issues...When the Government reports to the UN this time next year, it will find it difficult to say with any credibility that it is committed to children's rights".

• Read the full article here.
• Download a copy of the report here.